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Wow what company is that, treat there employees so well! :) Wish I am able to join such a company too!
–
Jiew MengOct 13 '10 at 8:04

Something that may not have been mentioned - good temperature/humidity/air quality control and nice bathrooms. I, for instance, get more hungry while working during hot summers than cold winters, because the temperature inside is negatively correlated to that of outside. Ideally the correlation should be slightly positive, but still be close to zero.
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JobDec 12 '10 at 15:49

90 Answers
90

Many people have mentioned a quite or silent workplace which is often not only impossible but is actually almost as bad as a noisy one. I can't stand utter silence, it's creepy, so here is my inexpensive suggestion:

A white/pink noise generator

Like a clock that has a white/pink noise generator in it. A lot of them have additional sounds but the beaches have annoying bird noises and rivers make me have to pee so the best ones are the sound modes that simulate rain. My favorite is rain on a tin roof.

Ability to create your own "helper"
tools (if they help you get the job
done) in any language of your
linking (which is different from
using any language outside the official ones for developing the
main products you are getting paid
for.)

For me a gym. I'm a physical guy and I know a lot of programmers are not, but I need to go and work out or i'm just not as productive. It doesn't have to be much but a place where you can do pull ups or sit ups a chin up bar and a punching bag. however I would do this after you have 2 monitors and a place where ideas are debated but those have already been mentioned.

• Surroundings that harmonize with him/her. This includes what has been mentioned before. Next to nothing cuts down productivity as bad as feeling like you're a rare type of lizard in a terrarium. If you feel at home, you get going ;)

• All the Software required plus some stuff to take away the hassle:

Current IDE and Equipment

Bug Tracker

Wiki

• Project leads that know their job : Have the developers develop, the help-deskers support. Period.

Personally, I always have Sopranos episodes running in the background or on the screen beside me, its always great when you hit a road block to just tune in for a few minutes to clear your head with some Paulie Walnuts!